


Soft

by Dirty_Corza



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Blow Jobs, Cock Piercing, M/M, Multi, Nipple Piercings, Polyamory, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 19:11:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19874641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dirty_Corza/pseuds/Dirty_Corza
Summary: Sometimes, between the boxing matches and vigilante business, Diego likes to be soft.Klaus and Ben surprise him by liking the softer side of him, too.





	Soft

"What were you doing with Allison?" Klaus asked the question, chin propped on his hands as he leaned over the seat in Diego's car. 

Diego flushed, more out of habit than embarrassment. "Just. Hanging out. Like siblings." He tried to deflect, knowing it wouldn't work, not on Klaus.

"For hours???" Klaus narrowed his eyes, giving him another intimate looking over. "Now, I don't think you were dicking her, because you aren't her type. Not burly or waifish enough. But several hours is several more than you usually manage to be civil with any of us, with the exception of dicking."

"Yeah, well, maybe that's because she doesn't make 'your sister doesn't want to fuck you' sound like a contest I'm losing."

Klaus gasped, a hand going to his chest in an overly dramatic hurt gesture. "You wound me. I wouldn't say you were losing that contest. Clearly she's the one with bad taste if she prefers L-"

"Nope." Diego reached up to cover Klaus' mouth without even looking. "You are not disparaging her sexual leanings. It isn't a contest. I'm not losing or winning. She and I just found some mutual interests and decided to hang out indulging."

"Mutual interests?" It was Ben who asked the question this time, his form coming into focus where he sat perched in the passenger seat. Diego was glad he'd had plenty of practice dealing with the two of them surprising him while he was driving or Klaus might have more than one brother haunting him.

"Yeah. Turns out how you want to get your dick wet isn't the only thing siblings can bond over. Shocking, considering Klaus, but true."

Ben gave a chuckle, shaking his head as he leaned against the seat, still staring at Diego, and Diego knew he'd break soon. "So what kind of mutual interests do you two have?" He sounded genuinely interested, not nosey like Klaus, and it was that that had Diego caving just as he knew he would.

"Flowers." He said, after a moment of hesitation, his hand slowly falling away from Klaus' chin. "Did you know she can draw? She's always been so in the spotlight I didn't know."

"What about you?" Ben carefully prodded for more, and Diego could see him shushing Klaus out of the corner of his eye.

"I- I'm not artistic. I just like how they look and I'm g-good at holding still."

"You modeled for her?!" Klaus couldn't be kept quiet any longer, and Diego could feel the flush as it burned up his neck. "Were you nude? Nothing but flowers between you and the artist's eye?"

"No, I wasn't nude!" Diego glared at Klaus in the rearview mirror. "I was wearing what I am now, but we added flowers and sh-she made me look s-soft."

He looked away, focusing on the road, or trying to. Doing his best to ignore the way he could feels his brothers staring at him. It was a strange sort of vulnerable, telling them what he and Allison had been up to. A different sort of vulnerable than when he was spread out on Klaus' bed- dicking him, as Klaus so eloquently put it. He hadn't been this open with them about himself since- since before Klaus had discovered drugs. Since they were children.

"What sort of flowers?" Ben's question jolted Diego back into the present, startling him enough he realized he had been forgetting to breathe.

"M-mums. Pink ones. Not- not bright pink. Just-"

"Soft." Ben finished the thought for him with a nod. "Did you pick them out?"

Diego gave another nod. "I-I like picking out flowers. And the mums are Mom's favorite. Sh-she said they r-reminded her of me."

"It sounds beautiful." Diego didn't need to look to know Ben was smiling at him. "Doesn't it, Klaus?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it does. Maybe you can show it to us sometime, Di?" The tease was gone from Klaus' voice this time. The sincerity bringing a flush to Diego's cheeks for an entirely different reason.

"Yeah. When sh-she's d-d-done with it. I-I'll be sure to show you guys."

\- - -

"What's this?" Diego frowned at the small jewelry box unceremoniously placed into his hand as Klaus waltzed into his room. 

"It's- a gift. An apology? Ben and I were talking and- you don't have a copper allergy, right?"

Diego just stared for a moment, a slight amused smile on his lips at the rush of words. Klaus was flustered about this gift and that- he'd be lying if he tried to say that didn't make his heart flutter in an all too telling way. "No, no allergies to copper. Why does that- what exactly did you get me?"

Klaus shrugged, feigning nonchalance, though Diego could see how tense he held himself. "Just something. Why don't you open it and see?"

"Alright." Diego looked away from Klaus to focus more on the small, velvet box. Soft, his mind supplied the description and it made his mouth go dry. With a deep breath, he flipped open the box, eyes going wide as he took in the contents. "Y-y-you got m-me-" he swallowed roughly, looking up from the jewelry to Klaus. "They're pink." He couldn't help looking back down at them, taking in the details with a shuddering breath.

It was clear what they were, a nipple ring and prince albert, so similar to the ones he was currently wearing and yet- 

It was more than just the color. Klaus hadn't just gone out to find him pink body jewelry. The nipple ring had a set of flowers in place of a ball, small, delicate things with tiny little clear gems in the petals. Soft, came the murmur in his mind again. And the prince albert, a complete ring, with a clear gem set in the ball so it would match the flowers and that was a thought he didn't know how to deal with.

"Do you like them?" Diego glanced up to see Klaus staring at him, biting his bottom lip with nerves. "I mean, if you don't, it's fine, I know we don't usually have a 'get each other something pretty' thing, but after the other day I really just- I wanted to make a gesture and I hope this is the right one, I really do-"

Diego let Klaus ramble as he snapped the lid shut, walking over to where he stood by the bed to shut him up with a tender kiss. It was far softer than their usual fare, a gentle press of lips devoid of the hunger that usually dominated their time together. He let the kiss linger, pulling back only when Klaus' eyes had fluttered shut, his hands gripping Diego's arms tightly. "I-I do. L-l-like them." He finally answered, feeling his cheeks flush at the stuttered confession. "W-would you like t-to help me p-put them in?"

"Fuck." Klaus looked wrecked at the question, eyes opening wide to stare at Diego before they focused on something over his shoulder and switched from wonder into a glare. "I know, you told me so, doesn't mean you need to rub it in, Be-"

Diego couldn't hold in a chuckle as he cut off the rant with another kiss. "Let him be smug about this one, Klaus. I- He helped pick them out, right?"

"Of course he did! It was... not exactly his idea, but- we both- You aren't just someone we're dicking, Di. What you said the other day... made it clear we hadn't shown you that. I hadn't shown you that." Klaus didn't meet his eye as he spoke. "Ben's hardly visible, and I- well. My mouth likes to run away with me and not usually in a 'god Diego, you are so fucking cute I can't stand it' sort of way."

When Diego couldn't find the words to say, when he held his breath trying to think of a reply, Klaus continued.

"But that doesn't mean I'm not thinking it. Just that 'you're cute' is usually not as pressing as 'god get your fucking cock in me' but that's not what today is about. Today is about the fact you are cute and when I started begging you to dick me I didn't mean for it to be just about sex. I just like the way you fuck me when you're annoyed and we should probably talk about that instead of me just riling you up."

"I'm sorry we didn't talk things over better earlier." Ben's soft voice came from behind him, a slight warning before Diego felt Ben's arms wrap around his waist. "And I hope this can be a step in the right direction."

Diego let out a breathless laugh, leaning back to feel Ben more solidly against him. "You like it, so you decided to put a ring on it?" He felt Ben tense, and when he glanced back at Klaus, Klaus met his eye with a sheepish smile. "Oh god. You did. You fucking- you like my dick, of course you wanna put a ring on it."

"I think 'in it' is a bit more accurate," Klaus quipped.

"Oh, fuck you," Diego said, his tone light as he tugged Klaus closer to him again for another kiss.

He felt Ben chuckle behind him, soft lips pressing to his neck. "No. That's coming later, Di. First..." Ben's hands gently tugged at Diego's shirt, dragging the fabric up in a reminder of what they were here for.

Diego groaned, deepening the kiss with Klaus for a moment before pulling back. "Yes, god. You two just- please?"

"Of course, Di. We've got you," Ben murmured, tugging the shirt up higher as he did. "Let's get this off you and then... bed?"

Klaus gave a hum of agreement as he nodded, reaching up to help Ben pull Diego's shirt off. "Bed sounds good. Comfy... soft." 

Diego flushed at the emphasis, but allowed his brothers to maneuver him onto the bed. He ended up still with his back pressed against Ben, being held by deceptively strong arms as Klaus made room for himself between their legs.

"Let's start at the top, shall we?" He asked with a grin, hands sliding up Diego's thighs in a light tease. 

"Klaus, behave," came a gentle rumble next to Diego's ear, the smile evident in Ben's voice making what could have been a harsh order so... soft. Diego couldn't help his small keening moan in response, his chest thrusting forward as far as Ben would let him to remind Klaus what they were here for.

"Yes, sir." It was Klaus who sounded breathless this time, as if the sight of Diego silently begging to wear a sign of their affection was something to be in awe of. And just as reverently, he reached for the velvet box still clutched in Diego's hand. 

It took effort to relax his grip, a deep, quivering breath to steady himself when Klaus reached for the nipple ring he was wearing, accidentally tugging it in a way that made Diego want to squirm. But Ben was holding him still, an arm across his hips and his other hand on his unpierced pec. All he was able to do was look down and stare at Klaus' fingers, so carefully removing the small bit of metal before reaching for the replacement. His hands fisted in the sheets as the new nipple ring was set in place, eyes wide, staring at the hint of delicate sparkle from the tiny clear gems. It wasn't as eye catching as the silver had been, not really. The rose gold very nearly matched his skin tone -and that was a thought, that this pale pink beautiful matched him- only the gems catching the light drew the eye. It looked delicate and beautiful and Diego knew, vaguely, that his brothers were staring at him, but in the face of all this, today wasn't a day he could find any words to say.

"I think it suits you," Ben broke the silence with a hum, his hand casually traveling across Diego's chest to lift the ring for a better look. "Don't you?"

Diego gave a nod, shuddering when Ben turned to press a soft -so soft- kiss to his cheek.

"Ready for number two?" Klaus asked with a smirk in his eyes, his hands resting on the edge of Diego's pants.

He was tempted to kick him, a reflex born of years of teasing jokes, but he held back, instead just giving another nod before turning to press his lips softly -ever so softly- against Ben's. 

The feeling of Klaus' hands at his zip, tugging down his pants and briefs, was familiar and tantalizing and Diego closed his eyes against the temptation. He knew what he would see if he looked, and knew what sort of reaction he had to seeing Klaus handling his dick. It was easier, with his lips pressed to Ben's and his eyes closed, to ignore that heat all too present in most of their time together. It wasn't that he stayed soft, like this, but keeping his eyes closed and face turned away he didn't risk his hands deciding to find Klaus' hair and force him down.

"I'm gonna take the old one out now." Klaus sounded serious, like letting Diego know what was going on down there was important, and that shouldn't be something that made Diego's cock twitch in Klaus' grasp, but it did. Sentimental bullshit, some part of him wanted to say, but another, better part of him shushed it and insisted it was soft and good and hot as fuck.

"F-f-fuck. P-please. K-kla-klaus-"

Ben hushed his stuttered words with another gentle kiss. A gentle slide of lips against his in a rhythm he could feel in his cock. He gasped at the realization. Klaus was playing with his current piercing, easing it out with minuscule movements that matched Ben's rhythm of the kiss. Ben smirked, letting the kiss turn open mouthed, somehow without letting it turn from gentle to filthy. It was a marvel of control, control Diego clearly didn't have as one hand let go of his sheets to reach up to Ben, holding him there insistently.

Still, Ben held back, chuckling into the kiss as Diego whined. "Patience, Didi. Klaus is almost done. Until then, though," he flicked Diego's new nipple ring lightly, eagerly swallowing up the gasp it elicited, "behave. And Klaus? Quit teasing poor Diego. This is a gift, remember? He shouldn't have to beg."

"Yes, sir." Came Klaus's reply, and Diego could feel it, Klaus' breath on his dick as he spoke. When had he gotten so close? His thoughts were derailed moments later, though, with the slide of metal along -no- inside sensitive skin. He knew it was done, didn't need to turn and look to know his brothers had put a pink ring in his cock to claim him as their own. 

With a shaking breath, Diego looked down anyways. It felt much the same, a similar weight and size to the one Klaus had replaced. The look, though, was entirely different. Gone was the stark contrast of metal against skin. The new jewelry almost blended in and the gem- oh. He hadn't expected the gem to make him think of come but it did. In the most delicate way as if the tip of his aroused penis was something beautiful- and like this, he supposed it was.

Then, Diego's gaze met Klaus'. There was a softness to it, a sweetness he wanted to drown in. Without breaking eye contact, Klaus leaned in until he was kissing the tip of his dick in an equally tender open mouthed kiss and he couldn't help but feel like he was already drowning.

"It's ok, Diego, just breathe." Ben's voice was a bare whisper, his lips pressed against Diego's ear as he tightened his hold on him. "Can you do that for me? A nice deep breath?"

Diego gave the smallest nod, taking in a large gulp of air. It was different like this, being in the middle of Ben and Klaus. He had wondered about it, craved it, imagined it, but nothing in his mind could have prepared him for the way it actually felt. It felt like words unsaid, like a confession dancing on the tips of their tongues and pressing into his skin. Just like 'You aren't just someone we're dicking' and 'I didn't mean for it to be just about sex'. "I-I-I, B-benny," Diego felt the words he wanted to say dancing at the tip of his tongue. He knew it was hard for his brothers to say them, too. The three of them were a matched set of issues and stumbling over words in different ways, and it made Diego want to struggle through to the other side even more, until the words came as easily to his lips as 'get your mouth on me' did most days.

"It's ok, Di, you don't have to-" 

Ben was being gentle and sweet and good and Diego couldn't help but shake his head, a touch more violently than he meant to. "N-no. I-I. Fuck. I l-l- goddammit. Iloveyou." By the time he got the words out, they came through gritted teeth, rushed so fast he wasn't sure they'd understand. For a moment, panting as he leaned back against Ben's chest, he thought they hadn't. Until he realized that Klaus' tongue had stopped lazily flicking his new dick ring, and Ben's hand was shaking against his chest.

"I l-l-l-love you." He stumbled through the words again, louder this time, relishing the way it made Ben dig his fingertips into his skin. "I f-fuckin' l-l-love you." Klaus answered with a wordless groan as his tongue began to move again, less gentle, more passionate in this second attempt. 

"I love you." Diego's voice is a hoarse whisper when he finally says the words straight, one of his hands tangled in each brother's hair. And then they don't stop coming. A waterfall of 'I love you's, cascading around them, surrounding them as Klaus takes him deeper and deeper, as Brn's teeth nip at his earlobe and press into his neck with bruising force. It's even more freeing than he expected, letting the words out into the open, feeling the sentiment returned through every place his brothers are touching him. 

Ben's hands over his hip and his heart- 'I love you', Klaus' knees hooked over his ankles- 'I love you', Ben's chest at his back, Klaus' hands on his thighs 'I love you, I love you', and their lips, hot and wet against his skin like men starving for him, Ben's at his shoulder, Klaus' wrapped around his cock. 'We love you.'

Diego came like that, back arched against one brother as the other gagged around his cock, a litany of 'I love you' falling from his lips. And when he was done, chest heaving as he caught his breath, two sets of lips searched out his own. 

"We love you, too, Di," Ben whispered as he maneuvered Diego to lay down, moving to curl up next to him.

"We do," Klaus added, cheeks flushed as he kissed the corner of Diego's mouth, lithe body stretching out along his other side.

"Do you want me to-" before his hand could reach Klaus' hip, Ben caught it, pulling it up to kiss his knuckles. 

"I think I speak for both of us when I say 'we good', bro."

Klaus chuckled, come-sticky lips pressing with gentle insistence against Diego's. "We most certainly are."

\- - -

"This is..." Diego stared at the painting Allison had revealed, eyes drawn to the unexpected glimmer on the softly pink flower petals. It hadn't had color, before. Just one of a number of pencil sketches, and this had been his favorite. One flower in his lips, and a pair entwined over his heart, and seeing the glimmer on the petals now took his breath away. At the time, he hadn't dared to think of the symbolism. A pair of flowers over his heart. It had simply been composition, nothing more.

After all, when he had sat for it, chatting with Allison, he had thought he knew how his brothers felt. "Get on your knees, Di." "Fuck him harder, he can take more." "Want me to stretch you open so Klaus can fuck you?" There was nothing subtle about the way Klaus climbed into his lap, or the feeling of Ben's hands around his cock. His brothers wanted to fuck him and- he wasn't about to turn them down. They were alive, after all, and Diego had been riding the high of that. If his fingers itched to hold onto theirs, he could put it aside to let his fingers wrap around cock instead. 

Now, though, staring at the painting, seeing the glimmer, his heart stuttered with newfound meaning.

"Do you like it?" Allison asked, a hint of eager to please in her voice, and a hint of worry that reminded Diego he was staring, mouth agape, having only said two words.

"It's- it's beautiful, sis. Better than I imagined. I love it." He leaned over, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to give her a sideways hug, eyes never leaving the tell-tale glimmer. "Th-the sparkles. Those..."

"You approve?" Allison waited for his nod to continue. "They were a bit last minute, but... the other day, at breakfast, Klaus made that comment about you shining and- the look in your eyes. It was just like when you picked out the flowers and I wanted that to be a part of this. Things that make my brother happy."

Diego flushed, only now daring to glance at her, not sure what he hoped to see. "Flowers and Klaus?"

There was a hint of pink on Allison's cheeks, more than there had been, and he wondered just how much she suspected or knew. "Flowers and Klaus, and- I'm not prying. No details, please. But I like seeing my brothers happy. Maybe next time we can chat about it?"

Diego nodded with a small laugh. "Alright, next time we can chat. Wine and flowers and painting. That's a thing people do, right, Alli?"

"Exactly! It's a date, Di."

Diego grinned at her, wondering for a moment at how natural it felt to have a sister again, after years of pushing the family away. "Though. I should- No, not should, I want to tell you, it- it isn't just Klaus. We aren't very... out about it. But it's Ben, too. I- I wanted you to hear it from me instead of just... maybe suspecting."

Allison grinned back, biting her lip in that very telling way that said it was exactly what she had suspected. "So, inviting all three of you out for dinner with me and Vanya would be alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, it would be." He looked back at the painting, eyes drawn to the flowers over his heart once more. "And Alli? Thank you for this. I know I said it before but... sibling time has been good, and I've actually been looking forward to putting this up in my room."

"Of course, Di. You're welcome." Allison leaned over to give him one last hug before heading down the hall. "I hope your bedmates like it as much as you do!"

Diego could feel his cheeks burning, his fingers itching to throw a knife- not as a threat but- instead he just huffed and yelled after her, "Don't make me give you details, sis, we both won't like that!"

\- - -

Diego couldn't stop looking at the picture, now hanging on the wall beside his dresser. From where he sat on his bed, cleaning his knives, it wasn't entirely visible. But still, he could see it, the telltale glimmer that he hadn't been able to put out of his mind since Allison had given it to him.

The glimmer that reminded him of the rings his brothers had put in his nipple and cock. The rings that made him feel claimed, loved. And now they were immortalized on canvas, two flowers entwined over his heart. Two brothers he cared for, more than he knew how to say most days, even if Klaus made a point of trying to rile him up. Maybe especially because Klaus made a point of riling him up.

He couldn't quite explain it, how much it meant that after everything, an apocalypse and heartbreak, bringing Ben back from the dead, kinda, saving the world even, Klaus still gave him shit. It was the one constant from their lives before, and it- felt good. It was a reminder that they had been what they were through all of it. Klaus was a shit and Diego was an ass and Ben made snide comments Diego couldn't always hear. But they had been together. And sure, they were fucking now, but it didn't mean Diego hadn't cared, before. 

He had kept an eye out for Klaus on the streets, gave him rides, tried to encourage him with rehab. He had tried, in the ways he could, to show Klaus he cared. Klaus had given him shit right back, and it felt like they were brothers.

Now, he was able to show Klaus in different ways, with soft touches and shared joints, and giving him rides and encouraging sobriety, to a point. And Klaus still gave him shit, still reminded him they were brothers, but also put a ring through his cock to say to the world 'mine'. 

Things with Ben were more complicated. Being in a relationship with your somewhat dead brother would do that, complicate things. Especially when it turned out all those years of talking to himself was actually Klaus talking to Ben. It took some getting used to, realizing Ben had been there for all of it, including the nights Diego spent watching over Klaus, pretending it hadn't happened the next day. It took some getting used to, realizing just how well Ben knew him, after all these years.

Ben made it easy, though. Silent and snarky and quietly sincere when he and Diego had a chance to talk alone. Ben had eased him into the idea of it when Klaus wanted to take things from zero to sixty in five seconds flat. Ben was the one that had sat up with him after the first heated kiss, watching Klaus sleep, confessing in Klaus' place, that this hadn't come out of the blue. For either of them.

And it was Ben that could read his face, that knew when Klaus' ribbing became too much and reeled him in. It was like swiming in the sea, being with the two of them together. Klaus was the waves crashing to the shore, and Ben the deep currents hiding beneath the surface. And Diego, Diego had been drowning in them long before he would admit it. 

"You brooding in here, or open for company?" Diego looked up to see Klaus in the doorway, a smirk on his face, and a tantalizing sashay to his hips as he waltzed down the stairs. 

"Doesn't look like you care much either way," diego quipped, keeping his eye on Klaus as his hands went through the practiced motion of putting away his knives. He tried to keep his tone light, tried to ignore the twist in his gut as he waited for Klaus to notice. Klaus would notice, sooner or later, the glimmer, the soft. And Diego wasn't sure he could handle it if Klaus' first response was to tease.

"Oh I don't, but Ben thinks asking is polite."

Diego let his eyes leave Klaus for a moment- just a moment- to glance back at the top of the stairs, to see if Ben was visibly there before looking back to Klaus. He had stopped at the bottom stair, eyes wide, and Diego regretted that flitting glance that cost him seeing Klaus' expression when he noticed it.

"That's it, isn't it." It wasn't a question, but Diego found himself nodding in answer, putting aside his knife case so he could go to Klaus' side.

"W-what do you think?" There it was, the nervous tremor in his voice, the smallest bit, but it still fed into that fear that Klaus would hear it and twist. 

"I-"

"It's perfect." Ben interrupted Klaus, leaning over one shoulder to look from the painting to Diego and back again. "At least, I think it's perfect."

"Yeah, what he said." Klaus nodded, finally taking the final step, still not looking away from the painting on the wall. He wavered there, fingers twitching in a familiar way at his side. A way Diego recognized as Klaus wanting to touch, to stroke, to memorize with his fingertips. 

"You can look closer, if you want. Just- don't pick at the rhinestones? I don't want to ask Alli to put it back together for me."

The gratitude in Klaus' eyes when he finally looked at Diego was almost too much to bear, a moment of warmth before Klaus was flitting away, staring at the painting like it held some kind of magic, leaving Ben and Diego alone on the stairs.

"You sure it's ok for us to barge in?" Ben asked, bumping his shoulder against Diego's as he came down the last few steps. "Klaus would whine and moan, but this is your place, and we both know it."

"If I had a problem with you guys dropping in, I would have taken away his key," Diego replied with a hint of a smirk. "I was thinking of inviting you over to see it, anyways."

"Yeah?" Ben gave him that smile Diego couldn't quite read, the one that made him feel like Ben was reading his thoughts, hearing the words unsaid.

Diego cleared his throat, giving a small nod before gesturing to the bed. "Wanna get comfy? He looks like he'll be a while."

Ben's answering laugh was warm in his chest, a knot pulling tight around his heart as they moved together to loungue on the covers, watching Klaus. They had to sit close, on the small bed Diego hadn't had a chance to replace yet. Ben let Diego's arm sit across his shoulders, his body half turned into the embrace. Intimate in a way Diego wasn't quite used to yet, his heart hammering away in his chest in a way he knew Ben could hear, with his head leaning on Diego's shoulder.

He expected Ben to say something, to break the silence as his heart raced, or to comment on the way Diego was staring at Klaus. He didn't expect Ben's hand resting lightly on his thigh, fingers tapping in time with Diego's heartbeat, even matching the stutter when Diego picked up on what was happening. 

The seconds stretched into minutes like that, Ben's fingers keeping time with Diego's heartbeat while Diego's eyes watched Klaus' captivation with the painting. "Diego?" Ben's voice finally broke the silence, though it wasn't urgent, just a soft, lazy hum of a question.

"Hm?" Diego only half-glanced down at Ben, eyes drawing back up to watch Klaus when it was clear Ben wasn't looking at him, either.

"Do you want to... date?" His tone was so casual, as if this question wasn't a big deal, as if putting that into words wasn't infinitely more difficult than saying 'I love you'. As if 'I love you' hadn't been an end, but a beginning. 

"D-date?" Diego kept his voice as soft as he could, trying to ignore the tremble he couldn't hide, and the way his heart had sped up again. Though this time, Ben's fingers didn't speed up to match.

"Like. Not just hanging out together. Or fucking. But... date. Go dancing, maybe. Take a class together? Maybe?"

"A-as boyfriends?" Diego could hardly hear his own voice over the pounding in his ears. He wasn't even sure he said anything outloud until Ben was moving, hand lifting to press against Diego's cheek and turn his face so their eyes could meet. 

"Do you want to be something like boyfriends?" Ben's voice was soft, but steady. Serious. "We don't have to be. We can just be... more than brothers. But if you'd like to be something like boyfriends with me..."

Diego took one shaky breath, two, three, until he could breathe without trembling. All the while, Ben just stayed right there, watching him, waiting, his cool palm against Diego's cheek. There was no rush behind those eyes, just patience and care and love, and Diego had to close his eyes against the flood. He needed to answer, to reply, to do more than just drown in the possibilities behind Ben's dark eyes. "You- y-y-y-you want to b-be-"

"Yeah. I do."

Ben's reply was so simple, so straightforward, it was just as calming as the cool hand whose touch Diego was leaning into. "Then. M-m-maybe. Maybe yes. I th-th-think I'd like that, too." 

Ben leaned forward, until Diego could feel just the barest brush of lips against his own. He didn't dare open his eyes to see the look on his brother's face as he felt those lips press more firmly against his, a smile evident from feel alone. It was too much, to think about Ben smiling because Diego wanted to date. It was so very much, to remember that this had started with Ben wanting to go dancing. Together.

Diego didn't have long to dwell on those thoughts, though, as slowly -too slowly, too *quickly*- Ben was deepening the kiss, lazily biting at Diego's lips. It had him itching for something more, one hand training down Ben's back while the other reached up to rest over Ben's on his cheek. He didn't press for more, though, letting Ben lead the lazy kiss while he just experienced it.

It felt like minutes later when they were finally pulling apart, lips damp, both of them breathing heavy. 

"'Scuse me, bros. Don't mean to interrupt but, does the massive make-out session mean the touchy feely stuff is all worked out?" Klaus asked as he climbed onto the bed.

Diego couldn't help but chuckled as Ben replied, "Yeah, yeah, touchy feely stuff, all squared away for now."

"Good! Because that painting. Is fuckin- I am so turned on right now and I would love if I could give you a hard and tender dicking, Didi."

Diego grinned, squeezing Ben's hand even as he spread his legs for Klaus. "A hard and tender dicking? Sure you don't mean soft?"

Klaus quirked up an eyebrow as he moved between Diego's thighs, his hands tracing their way up his inseam. "Hard and tender, or soft and rough. Which two would you like, today?"

Diego turned his head, keeping eye contact with Klaus as he kissed the palm of Ben's hand. "You know which."

"Soft and rough it is."

**Author's Note:**

> A big shoutout to the horrance discord as usual, for encouraging me and this, and to Runa, especially. Without you, this nearly 6k of *soft* wouldnt have been done.
> 
> Also! If people like this, I may be dabbling a bit more in this softest universe, so keep your eye out for that. ;)


End file.
